Business book shortlist announced
The shortlist for the Business Book Awards has been announced at a packed live event at Birmingham 's Millennium Point.
Authors, publishers, and business figures gathered for the shortlist reveal party to discover which titles had been selected to go through to the finals.
The fifth edition of the awards - in partnership with Pathway Group - received double the number of entries compared to its inaugural year.
More than 300 were books submitted from business leaders across the globe.
In response to the changing experiences of most businesses, the introduction of new categories 'Wellness & Wellbeing ', 'Work & Life ' and 'Smart Thinking ' all attracted a high number of entries.
For 2022, 104 books across 14 categories have been selected by the judging panel to make it through to the shortlist, including titles from My Protein founder Oliver Cookson and former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi.
The Business Book Awards aims to celebrate the breadth, diversity, and quality of business book publishing and has campaigned for diversity and inclusion in the sector since it was founded in 2017.
As well as welcoming books published in every form, from traditional to self-published, the awards have consistently encouraged more women, ethnic minorities, and differently-abled authors to make their contribution in print.
Following the announcement of the shortlist, awards founder Lucy McCarraher was especially thrilled to find that this year 's 116 finalist authors were made up of a 50/50 split of exactly 58 women and 58 men.
She said: “In our first year, only one third of entries were from women authors and all our winners were white men.
“After writing and publishing a book about this (A Book of One 's Own - a manifesto for women to share their experience and make a difference) and four years of campaigning for more women to write, publish and enter their books, we have - at least in the shortlist - achieved perfect gender equality! This must be a first for any literary award. ”
The event served as a triple celebration, with 2020 and 2021 winners also being presented with their awards in-person, before the 2022 shortlist was announced by head judge and previous commissioning editor at Random House, Jacq Burns.
Opening the ceremony, event director ad Future Faces Chamber of Commerce vice president Kasim Choudhry said: “It is truly amazing to finally be back in-person to celebrate this evening, after the past two years of disruption and being forced to operate the awards online. ”
On receiving his award, Business Book of the Year 2020 (The Human Edge) author Greg Orme spoke about the incredible impact the award has had on him both personally and professionally.
2021 winners, Ash Ali and Hasan Kubba, (The Unfair Advantage) said how amazing it felt for two Asian men from unexceptional backgrounds to be not only published authors, but winners of such a prestigious award.
Closing the event, Pathway Group CEO Safaraz Ali highlighted the impact business books and the promotion of lifelong learning is having on the region.
Winners of The Business Book Awards 2022 will be announced at 8 Northumberland Avenue, London, on Monday 16 May.
To view the full shortlist.
Pictured: Safaraz Ali and Lucy McCarraher with Business Book of the Year 2021 authors Hasan Kubba and Ash Ali